Something Else
by cielvalentine
Summary: Carlos' best friend moves to the Palm Woods to follow her aspirations. After not having spoken to each other since the boys left Minnesota, Carlos is swept away and realizes that he cared about her more than he thought he did.


Chapter 1 - A Forgotten Friend

Carlos POV

"Carlos, your phone is making weird noises!" James screamed from across the pool. I wasn't ready to walk all the way there since I was busy trying to get a date with the Jennifers. On the other hand, I haven't had much luck, anyway.

"Carlos! I'm going to throw your phone at you and it might drop into the pool! Just saying!"

I eventually gave up wooing the Jennifers and dragged myself to where James was standing. By the time I got there, he had already set my phone in my helmet that was on the table next to him while he stared at himself in his mirror that he always carried around. I put on my helmet before I sat down. The screen lit up to tell me that I had a few texts from a number I didn't recognize.

_Hey, Carlos! I sure hope you remember me because I'll be at the Palm Woods tomorrow morning! I was hoping that we could catch up and you could show me around. I'm also excited to see the guys, too. It's been 2 years since you left Minnesota and we haven't talked one bit. I should be mad at you, but we've both been busy. All I'm worried about is if you'll remember me. Oh, and this is my new number. I'll see you tomorrow! – Kara_

"KARA'S COMING TO THE PALM WOODS!" I jumped up from my seat and showed James the screen.

His jaw dropped but he quickly looked back at me and gave me a devilish grin. "Are you excited?"

"Of course, I am!"

"She's excited too."

"Yeah, I saw. We should tell Logan and Kendall! Let's go! I started to run towards the door but James grabbed my arm before I even got 3 steps down, "Haaang on!"

"Ugh, what? Don't you want to tell them?"

"I do. But there's something I have to tell you."

"Well, what?"

"We've always known that you've liked her. We've been gone for 2 years and not once have you talked to her. We were starting to think you forgot all about her. You probably did or you secretly didn't and thought about her all the time and you just didn't make it obvious so we wouldn't say anything. Now she comes to you out of nowhere and you're as excited as you would look if you found out we were buying you a new helmet." James said leaning on me with her elbow on my shoulder.

Being the shortest, this was nothing new to me. The teasing was also something I was used to. Back in Minnesota, ever since we were in the 3rd grade the guys and our families always teased me about liking Kara. Of course, I don't.

"You're buying me a new helmet? But I love my helmet!" I tapped it, worried that it was going to be replaced.

"That's not the only thing you love."

"Come on, James. This again? I don't like her. She doesn't like me. She's my best friend. Besides you guys, I mean."

"She's your GIRLfriend."

Instead of begging him to stop, I knew that I was going to be hearing more from the guys once I told them so I took James by the arm and dragged him all the way to 2J. Inside, Kendall and Logan were lounging on the couch, full from Mama Knight's cooking.

Before I could open my mouth, James beat me to it. "Hey guys, guess who's coming to town!"

"Santa Clause?" Mrs. Knight asked from behind the counter.

"... No. But it's someone better and it's a giiiirl. A special girl." He flipped his hair and smiled at me. This was his way of putting me in the hot seat. It didn't take long for the guys to finally catch on.

"Wait, a special girl? Can it be?" Logan came running towards me, grabbed my arms, and started to shake me.

Kendall slapped me on the back and started laughing, knowing exactly who James was talking about. "So, Carlos, when are we going to see Kara?"

At that moment, Katie slid out of the swirly slide and bolted towards us and with her mouth wide open and her huge eyes staring at me, she gasped, "Kara's coming?"

"Guys! Give Carlos some space to talk, you're killing him!" And there was Mama Knight to the rescue. She always knew what we needed and space was exactly what I wanted.

I shrugged off Logan who still had a pretty good grip on me and took a few steps away from the group. Taking a deep breath, I turned around and carefully thought about what I would say to avoid any more accusations of me liking her.

"She texted me. She said that she was excited to see all of us again and that she'd see us tomorrow." I said that in my most expressionless way ever.

"Oh, I bet you're going to sweep her off her feet once she sees how much of a young man you've turned into." Mama Knight said as she pinched my cheek.

Well, I tried. And here I was, thinking that she was on my side.

"Who cares what Carlos thinks? Kara's coming! We should celebrate!" Katie said as she started listing all the things she wanted to do with Kara.

Katie was super close with Kara. Sometimes they would team up and pull one of the Katie Famous pranks on us. I liked to believe that together, they were smarter than Logan. They probably were. Thanks to Katie, the guys drifted away from the topic of me liking her and started to think about the last time they saw her. Each of them were as excited as I was. I started to space out until all I could her was their muffled voices as I tried to recover some flashbacks from when I last saw her.

It was the day Gustavo asked us to become stars. We left for LA and that was the last I saw of her. I wasn't able to see her when our first concert got cancelled and came back to Minnesota. But before we left the first time, she wished us all the best and she gave each of us a big hug, especially me. She had light brown hair, fair caramel skin - a little lighter than mine - and a kind face. She was just as energetic and playful as me but she knew when to stop. She got me out of a lot of trouble when we were younger and she knew me the best; Probably more than the guys. She was my other half.

I turned away from the three and couldn't help but smile at what I was feeling. They're right about me being excited, I mean, I am. It feels really nice to know that I'm going to see an old friend again. My smile was getting bigger and bigger the more I thought about it.

I don't care what they say tomorrow when I see her. I'm going to enjoy every second of it.


End file.
